"You look pretty." Ashton's voice came from behind me and I looked up into the mirror to see him standing a few feet behind me, a soft yet sad smile on his lips.

I was wearing a black jean skirt with silver buttons up the front and a long sleeved, light blue, loose blouse. It was v-necked and had laces criss-crossing over the empty space.

My makeup was done and my hair was curled.

"Thank you." I said back to him, then glanced back down.

"Are you almost ready?"

"Yeah." I dug through my makeup bag to find my chapstick and applied it before turning around.

Ann was sitting on the kids bed with one of the portable DVD players in her lap as she watched a movie with the kids.

"Hey guys, we're gonna go so come give us hugs." Ashton said and Ann paused the movie before both kids slid off the bed to come hug us.

"Bye End." I hugged my brother and kissed his hair before he moved to hug Ashton.

"Bye Dad." Ender smiled at him.

"I'll see you later bud." Ashton kissed his hair as well before letting go.

Gracie came up to us and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"I love you sweet girl, be good for Grandma, and Daddy and I will be back soon." I told her before kissing her cheek.

"Okay Mommy." She grinned at me.

"I love you."

"I love you, Mommy."

Gracie then moved to Ashton who wrapped her up in his arms.

"I love you Gracie, be a good girl and we'll be back soon."

"Love you Daddy." She smiled and he kissed her other cheek before standing back up.

"We'll be back tonight." Ashton waved at his mom and then took my hand before leading me out of the hotel.

When we hit the streets instead of going to the car he turned and began to walk down the sidewalk, a body guard walking in front of us.

"Why are we walking?" I asked him.

"I thought the walk would be nice for both of us." He replied and then got silent. He stayed that way for a few minutes before speaking.

"Carter," he began and I internally sighed, "I know that this custody thing with Gracie has us both worried and stressed and freaking out...but I know you and I know myself, we will get through this."

"I don't think that if she leaves I'll be able to make it, and I don't think-"

I was about to say something then stopped myself.

"And you don't think we'll make it?" He filled in the blank and I slowly nodded. "I figured that's what you were thinking."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not mad." He chuckled. "Gracie was- is- a big reason why we are the family we are. She's one of the reasons I proposed so soon because I wanted to be her father. She's helped us be the couple we are. She brought us closer in ways I thought it would take years for us to be, but she did it just by walking through our front door. If she were to leave there would be this unfillable hole in our lives and we would never be the same as we were...but I wouldn't leave you just because she's not there."

I stayed silent.

"I'm not leaving you Carter. Not even if we lose all our money, our house, our kids, ourselves...I'm staying with you because you are a part of me now, and I hope I am a part of you. We're in this for the long run alright? I don't want you to worry."

I nodded.

"I just, I just can't even think about her not being with us. She's just so special to us and I don't think I will ever be myself again if she leaves."

"She won't leave." He said.

"Don't make promises to me that you can't keep."

"I-" He began but stopped. "Would you just let me be here for you, with whatever part of me I have left? I'm trying to help you but it's hard when I don't even know how to anymore, at least not with this."

"I'm sorry, I'm just terrified Ashton. I don't know what to do."

"Well here's a hint, I feel the same way. We're in this together Carter. We are both scared and hurting and I know it will be difficult for both of us, but we need to at least try and stay as close as possible right now."

"Okay." I said, keeping my eyes trained on my feet.

"So can I kiss you without wondering if you'll fall apart in front of me?" He asked and I looked up at him, a smile on my lips now.

"Yes." I said and he stopped in his tracks before taking my face in his hands, putting his mouth on mine.

This kiss was a kiss we hadn't had since we'd found out about the custody case. It was passionate, loving, beautiful, sweet, comforting, and just everything I needed at the moment.

We broke the kiss but he kept his face close to mine, us breathing heavily being all I could hear.

"You don't ever have to ask if you're going to kiss me like that." I said and he laughed.

"Okay then." He smirked at me before moving in to kiss me again.

After we had kissed for a few minutes we continued walking.

Eventually the paparazzi found us and I shielded my eyes from the flashes.

Finally we made it to the theatre and went inside, Ashton looking at the selections.

"Okay, what do you want to see? Something funny, something boring, a super girly chick flick, or something that will probably scare us half to death? And I warn you now if you make me see the super girly movie I might fall asleep."

"Hmm...how about funny?" I smiled up at him. "We could use a little comic relief don't ya think?"

"Sounds great." He kissed my forehead before buying our tickets and snacks before we found our theatre and took a pair of seats in the back.

"So you know the back row in movie theatres is a designated make out zone." He said as the movie started.

Five more people were in the theatre with us and they were all way in front of us.

"Now who's in the mood?" I smirked.

"I'm always in the mood when it comes to you." He moved the arm rest between us up so we were able to be closer.

"Well then kiss me hot stuff."

I put my arms around his neck and pulled him down to kiss me as his hands gripped my waist.

Breaking the kiss after a few minutes I leaned up against him.

"Why did we wait so long to do it?" I breathed and heard Ashton chuckle.

"Because I was scared to death that you wouldn't want to do that with me."

"Well you were mistaken."

"I know. But now I'm not, and the great part of it is that I get to marry you, so I can have you all to myself."

"Very true, Mr. Irwin." I smirked at him.

We watched the movie for awhile, enjoying each other's company, kissing every once in a while (okay more than that) and trying to relax.

But despite the funny movie before us and the smiles on our lips, the heavy cloud of darkness and despair loomed over us like a monster.

After just breaking a kiss I leaned my head against Ashton's and began to rub my hand up and down his thigh when I noticed the light coming from his phone.

He was receiving text after text and finally he sighed before taking it out.

"What the..." He trailed off and I looked as he went through the many messages from his friends that all basically said the same thing.

'So sorry to hear about Gracie, you and Carter will get through this. Good luck in court.'

"Ashton how do people know?" I looked up at him with wide eyes.

He then switched over to his Twitter where all we could see were people talking about our custody case with Gracie.

He scrolled for a moment before coming across an article that he clicked on and a surge of anger rushed through me.

BIRTH FATHER SUING ASHTON IRWIN AND CARTER CHASE FOR CUSTODY OF FOUR- YEAR- OLD GRACIE

"Damn it." Ashton sighed angrily.

Ashton Irwin and Carter Chase make headlines again, but instead of it being about a romantic present or vacation, it's more tragic. The couple is being sued by Robert Ramone, the man who claims to be Gracie Irwin's birth father, for full custody including child support.

Gracie, recently adopted by Ashton and Carter is actually Carters second cousin. Her mother, Abby Young, passed away in March of this year. Robert Ramone contacted the press after feeling like he needed support and spoke his story saying that he left Abby after Gracie's conception for a job. He never met Gracie and didn't know what had happened to her until he saw an article and picture of her and knew that it was his daughter and requested the DNA test through the court which Chase and Irwin complied to.

He said to reporters that he "wants to have that relationship with my daughter and be involved in her life."

Ashton and Carter are not taking this lightly though. Apparently they have hired Thomas Jackson, the best child custody lawyer in all of London to help them with their case.

When contacted, Mr. Jackson said that he would not speak with reporters and expressed that Mr. Irwin's and Ms. Chases request to not have any media involvement is one of his teams top priorities and will respect their wishes.

"They are fighting back hard, but she belongs with her rightful parent, and if that can't be Abby Young then it should be Mr. Ramone." Robert Ramones lawyer spoke for him. "Our goal is to give Mr. Ramone full custody of Gracie and also add his name as the rightful father to her birth certificate as well as change her name. Our defence is that Mr. Irwin and Ms. Chase had no right to place their names on her birth certificate and that since Robert Ramone has established paternity, he should be her legal guardian."

When asked why they went to the media about the case Mr. Ramone had this to say.

"We know that they wouldn't speak about this to the public but it's something that needs to be said. She needs to be with me and right now we could use all the public support we could get."

This all happens in the midst of Ashton Irwin's world tour with his band 5 Seconds of Summer and on the aftershock of Carter Chases hospitalisation for a seizure. A date has not been set for the custody hearing.

"Son of a bitch." Ashton growled.

"We have to say something now."

"Let's call Mr. Jackson." Ashton said and he and I left the theatre and went into the hall where we called him to ask what to say.

We came up with a statement together and I typed it out of my phone before we hung up and went to share it.

'Our hearts are broken as we have entered this legal battle over custody of our little girl against her birth father. As we fight to keep her home with us we ask for your prayers and privacy. This is not easy and is unexpected but we have faith. We are thankful for our legal team that is respecting our wishes of not sharing the details of our case with the public, and are confident in the fact that Gracie will be in good hands. Again, we won't answer questions and will not be talking about the case with the media and appreciate privacy and prayers for our family and for our daughter. -Ashton and Carter'

"I think we need to talk to Mr. Jackson and see if we should make that doctors appointment, we need any help we can get Carter."

"Yeah." I nodded.

We decided to cut our evening short and went back to the hotel, Ashton closing the door behind us.

"Daddy! Mommy!" Gracie ran up to us and Ashton lifted her up in his arms.

"Hey little princess. What are you doing up?" He smiled at her.

"We were about to have bath time." Ann said.

"Ah, well let's go take a bath, come on." He took the girl into the bathroom.

I followed along and we got her in the water, Ashton and I getting her all scrubbed up in the bubbles before pulling her out of the water.

Ashton was going to wrap her in her towel when the little girl ran from the bathroom into the big room.

"Gracie!" Ashton began to chase after her as she squealed and he wrapped the towel around her as he caught her.

"What are you doing?" I asked her as he began to dry her off.

"Play!" She giggled and I shook my head before we zipped her up in her pyjamas.

"Okay sweetheart, let's get you into bed." Ashton held her while he flipped back the covers on the bed and laid her down. "Come on End, you too."

Ender laid down in the bed as well and we gave them goodnight kisses before leaving to go into the guys room with Ann where the boys plus Ari and Jason were.

"So what did the lawyer say?" Luke asked.

"I'm making a doctors appointment for the day after tomorrow. He's also getting us in with the judge next week." I said.

"So if the doctor says yes, are you willing to breastfeed Gracie?" Ari asked.

"I'm willing to do anything to keep her here with us." I replied and felt Ashton's hand on my back.

"I can't believe he went to the press like that." Michael shook his head.

"Yeah, well that will bite him in the ass, because I will make it very clear that we didn't expose our personal problems to the world, he did." Ashton said.

"I have a migraine." I dropped my head into my hands.

"It will be okay honey." Ann placed a hand on
my shoulder and I sat up to lean against her as she wrapped her arms around me in a hug.

"I just want my little girl to stay with me." I breathed.

"We all want her to stay. We love her so much."

"This sucks." Calum shook his head and I looked up to see an upset look on his face.

"Why us?" I asked. "Why is it always my family that gets torn apart over and over again?"

"Carter." Ashton shook his head.

"No. I'm right."

He didn't have an argument.

"Carter, this isn't a punishment, this is just another unfortunate incident that you will get through. You're a strong girl." Jason said.

"I am so sick of always being strong."

"It's what makes you who you are Carter." Ashton said.

"Well maybe I don't wanna be who I am." I looked at him and he frowned.

"If only you saw yourself the way I do and the way everyone else does, maybe you'd understand why everyone loves you."

"You're a beautiful person Carter, inside and out. This isn't your fault, you didn't do anything wrong." Ann rubbed my arm.

"I just- I just want this all to go away. I want to be happy again. I want to have my daughter without worrying if she's going to be taken away from me, I want to be home, I want to be married, I just want to be happy."

"We will be." Ashton reached over to take my hand.

"Daddy!" We suddenly heard a sob outside the door and Ashton and I jumped up, him jogging to the door and flinging it open to see Gracie standing on the other side.

"What's wrong baby?" He picked her up and carried her inside.

"I want you." She sniffled as she buried her head in his neck.

"Okay. Shh...I've got you."

"Cuddle." She whimpered and I saw him smile.

"You want to go cuddle? How about we get Mommy and she comes to cuddle with us." He looked at me and I walked towards them.

"Let's go sweetheart." I smiled and I left the hotel room, going across to our room.

He pulled back the blankets on our bed and sat her down while we both quickly changed into night clothes and I wiped my makeup off and put on my glasses before getting into bed with her.

We nestled down into the covers, wrapping our arms around her to make her feel safe and loved.

I knew within moments she'd be out like a light and she was, falling asleep between us.

"What do you think the judge will ask us?" I looked up at Ashton as he brushed his fingers over Gracie's arm.

"I don't know. About our parenting style, finances, our relationship." He listed off a few things.

I nodded.

"Okay, let's go to sleep and we can worry about this tomorrow." He said and I closed my eyes, falling asleep quickly.

In the morning I awoke laying on my back with Gracie on top of me.

Ashton was getting dressed and I watched him for a moment before speaking.

"Where are you going?" I asked him in a sleepy voice.

"To get a hair cut and I need to go get a dress shirt, slacks and shoes for the hearing." He said as he slipped on a shirt.

"Oh. Will you be gone long?"

"Hopefully not too long. Why, what are you doing today?"

"I was going to go meet Harry for lunch."

"That sounds good. I'll be back before Ender's lesson though but if you need to then take the kids to my mom."

"Okay." I said and hugged Gracie a little tighter as she snoozed away on my chest.

"Don't forget to make the doctors appointment for tomorrow."

"Yes sir." I said with my eyes closed and soon I felt his presence above me and felt his lips at my ear.

"You know I love it when you say that." He spoke against my skin and I smirked.

"I'll try to be back before you go." He moved up so he could look at me.

"Okay. I love you." I smiled.

"I love you too." He bent down for a kiss and then moved to kiss Gracie's cheek.

"Tell her I love her when she wakes up." He said.

"I will." I smiled at him.

He then kissed Ender's head before he left.

I laid with Gracie for a little longer until she started to stir and I sat up, adjusting her so I could cradle her in my lap as I rocked her gently back and forth.

Eventually her eyes fluttered open and she crawled up so she could rest her head on my chest after moving my shirt so she could feel my skin.

As I loved on her she smiled up at me, holding onto me with her little arms.

"Daddy wanted me to tell you that he loves you when you woke up." I told her and she grinned.

"I love Daddy."

"Me too. He's the best Daddy, isn't he?"

"Mhmm." She nodded happily.

Ender eventually got out of his bed and came over to ours, sitting next to me where he wrapped his arms around my waist.

"I miss Bear." He pressed his face into my side.

"I miss Bear too." Gracie copied him and I smiled.

"We'll see him soon, don't worry." I assured them. "Daddy will be excited to see Bear too."

"Yeah because Bear always followed him around." Ender laughed.

"And he laid under his feet at the dinner table and sat with him on the sofa so he would pet him." I chuckled.

"Bear likes Dad a lot."

"Because you like him a lot." I informed him. "And since you like Ashton, Bear likes him."

"Where is Dad anyways?"

"He went to get a haircut and some clothes for court." I explained and he frowned.

"I don't want this to happen."

"I know bud, none of us do, but we don't really have a choice."

"When will we know?" He looked down at Gracie and poked her nose making her giggle.

"In a few weeks once we go to court." I sighed. "Okay, let's stop talking about the sad things and get ready and have some breakfast."

"Breakfast!" Gracie cheered and Ender and I both laughed at her before getting out of bed.

I got myself and both kids ready before we went downstairs to the lobby to eat and I then took them to the park a few blocks away for them to play.

I put Gracie in the toddler swing and pushed her while Ender swung highly next to us, trying to see how high he could go.

Next we went down the slides and then Gracie climbed through the tunnels on the jungle gym.

There were drink and food carts all around us and I got us some waters and crisps before we walked down to the little pond where there were ducks swimming and I let the kids feed them while I took some pictures and played with them.

But as I enjoyed this time with my kids I was very aware of the men in the park taking our picture and called Brad on my cellphone to come be with us so he could be a bit of a shield between me and them.

After we had played at the park for awhile we walked back to the hotel and I freshened myself up a bit before taking the kids up to Ann's room so I could leave for my lunch with Harry.

I texted Ashton where the kids were on my drive to wherever I was meeting Harry.

When we pulled up I could see paparazzi outside and knew Harry must already be here and I took a deep breath before getting out and braving the storm.

Once the door closed behind me I breathed a sigh of relief and then looked around myself to see I was in some kind of high-end tea room.

"Hey, you made it."

I looked to the right where I heard Harry's voice come from and saw him walking towards me.

"Yeah. Hi." I smiled and hugged him once he approached me.

"How are you?" He asked as he hugged me back.

"I've been better." I laughed and then let go.

"Here let me get your coat." He smiled and I turned so he could slide the coat that used to be his off my shoulders and hung it on the hook.

"Thanks." I smiled at him.

"Here, we're over here." He smiled back and led me to a table in the back of the restaurant.

He pulled out my chair for me like Ashton always did then sat down across from me.

"I feel very underdressed." I nodded down to my outfit of dark jean skinnies with the bottoms folded up, a grey tank top and a black sweater to go over it.

"You look great." He assured me. "You look a little tired though."

"Yes well, you would be too if you woke up in the middle of the night from having nightmares about being in court."

"Do you know when the hearing is?"

"Not yet. Ashton and I still have to meet with the judge first." I sighed. "Can we talk about something else please besides my disaster of a personal life?"

"Yeah." He smiled.

"Tell me about you Harry, what's going on with you?"

"Nothing really." He shrugged. "I went on a date last night?"

"Oh how fun! With who?" I grinned.

"I don't want to say?" He pursed his lips.

"Fine then." I sighed playfully.

"Besides, there's no point in telling because there won't be a second date."

"Aw, why not?" I frowned.

"She's not really my type." He shrugged.

"So what is Harry Styles type?" I wiggled my eyebrows.

"Well I'd like to be able to carry on a conversation with the girl which is not what happened last night."

I laughed.

"Okay so good conversationalist. What else?"

"I like girls with intelligence, compassion, wit. You know, beauty and brains." He shrugged.

"So she had the beauty but not the brains?"

"Exactly." He laughed. "I swear if you looked in her ear you could see out the other, there's nothing in that girls head besides air."

"Harry don't be mean."

"If you met her you'd understand."

I shook my head with a chuckle on my lips.

"Okay so you had a date, what else?"

"Nothing really. I've been looking for houses."

"Oh are you moving?"

"Yeah, I want a bigger place."

"A bigger place for one?"

"Hopefully I won't be just one forever." He said and I smiled.

"You'll find someone. You're a great guy, a little snippy sometimes but we can work on that." I winked at the end.

"Wow." He scoffed playfully.

A waiter came and made us each a cup of rose flavoured tea and then brought a three tiered tea tray with little sandwiches, biscuits, cakes, and crackers.

There were two of each so Harry and I split the tray.

"So I know there's a lot going on in your life that we are not going to talk about, but how would you feel about going to a movie sometime?"

"That sounds fun." I smiled.

"Good. I like spending time with you."

"Me too. It's kind of like a breath of fresh air."

"I feel the same way."

We finished our lunch and Harry paid for it even though I wanted to half it, and then we walked to the door.

He slid my coat back on me and then we left the tea room, us getting into the same car. It drove us back to my hotel and he got out with me to walk me inside.

We took the elevator up to my floor and he walked me to my hotel room door.

"Thanks for lunch Harry, it was fun." I smiled at him.

"Well we definitely have to do it again. I'll let you know about the movie night too."

"Awesome."

"I'll talk to you later?"

"Of course, Harry." I smiled and he then moved in to hug me.

"You're so short it's hard to hug you."

"Leave me alone." I mumbled causing him to laugh.

"Bye Carter."

"Bye."

He squeezed me tightly for a moment before we broke the hug and he waved as I unlocked the door to my room and walked inside.

"Hey look who's here it's Mommy!" Ashton said in a happy voice as I walked in.

He was sitting in the floor with Gracie and Ender and immediately I was drawn to his new haircut. It was shorter definitely, and he looked much younger but looked super attractive and reminded me of the pictures I had seen of him when he was 20.

"Looks good. I like it." I smiled at him.

"Mommy!" Gracie then ran to me and hugged my legs.

"Hi!" I laughed. "Were you, Ender, and Daddy playing?"

"We play ducky gooey!"

"Ducky gooey?" I looked at Ashton.

"Duck duck goose." He smiled.

"Oh. Well would it be okay if I joined your game?" I bent down so I could be eye level with her, touching her cheek.

"Mhmm." She nodded up at me with a smile and I kissed her cheek before sitting down on the floor in their circle, playing games with them for the rest of our afternoon.

It was fun, being with my family like this, and I never wanted there to be a time when we were not all together.

I needed them... and hopefully they needed me.

But that would be for the judge to decide.

--

Hey everyone!

I hope you are enjoying the story so far :)

What do you think will happen with Gracie, and what do you think about Carters friendship with Harry?

Comment and vote if you'd like!

Much love xx -M